When it comes to powerful superheroes, Spider-Man may be one of the most overlooked. Although he's not on the same level as characters like Thor and the Incredible Hulk, the web-slinger is a powerhouse due to more than the radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker. Sure, that fateful accident gave him the proportional strength of a spider. But Spider-Man's years of fighting enemies and facing obstacles surpassing his strength have made the wall-crawler much stronger.

Spider-Man's strength has always played a major role in his stories, defining how powerful he could be should he ever choose not to pull his punches. Against an above-average human, like the Kingpin, in the 2007 storyline "Back in Black," by J. Michael Straczynski and Ron Garney, Spider-Man could easily defeat Kingpin without breaking a sweat. But while Peter Parker's power levels against everyday criminals are easy to gauge, there remains the question of where his assorted comic book,...